Patriots Journal: Faulk sharp in long-awaited return

Sunday

PITTSBURGH — The Patriots put the strongest unit on the field they have had yet this year Sunday, which is surprising considering the way the game went.

PITTSBURGH - The Patriots put the strongest unit on the fieldthey have had yet this year Sunday, which is surprising consideringthe way the game went.

The Pats welcomed back five players from the injured list in the25-17 loss to the Steelers: Kevin Faulk, Jerod Mayo, SebastianVollmer, Danny Woodhead and Brandon Deaderick. They did not look inmidseason form.

Mayo saw limited action at his linebacker spot, so limited thatBrandon Spikes wore the communications device that allows a playerto hear signals from the sideline. Mayo usually calls the signalswith that device when he is healthy.

Vollmer also saw some action, although rookie Nate Solderremained in the starting lineup at tackle. One of the few timesVollmer drew attention was when he allowed a sack to LaMarr Woodleyin the second quarter. Deaderick was also spotted in and out on thedefensive line, although he played a bit more after Shaun Elliswent out with a rib injury. Woodhead saw very limited action.

Faulk was the guy who stood out, primarily because he had notbeen on the field for 13 months, since tearing the ACL in his leftknee. He was one of the first players on the field for pregamewarm-ups.

"I had a couple of mistakes in there. I missed a blitz pickup,"he said. "It might have been my first game in 13 months, butwinning was the most important thing, and we didn't do that."

The 13-year veteran, who played with a small brace on his knee,said he thought about his own situation only once.

"Only one moment, walking in from warm-ups," he said. "(Ithought about) just being able to have the uniform on and being onthe field. That was it."

Faulk made a nice blitz pickup that allowed Tom Brady enoughtime to find Deion Branch for New England's first touchdown. Faulkran the ball six times for 32 yards and caught five passes for 20yards.

"He's such a spark plug for our offense and he does so manythings well," Brady said of Faulk. "For a guy that hasn't playedfootball in a year, it doesn't look like it."

Not happy with call

Rob Gronkowski tied his career-high in receptions, with seven,but there was one in particular late in the game that drew the mostattention.

The tight end caught a pass from Brady on the goal line with4:15 left in the game. He was knocked backward and the officialsruled he did not get in the end zone. He felt he was over the lineand should have been awarded a touchdown.

"That's what the referee called and we just moved on," he said."We eventually scored, which is good."

Pats coach Bill Belichick said he did not have enoughinformation at the time to challenge the play. It turned out to beimportant since the Pats ran another 90 seconds off the clockbefore Brady passed to Aaron Hernandez for the touchdown thatclosed the deficit to 23-17.

Injury front

The Pats inactives included Julian Edelman, Shane Vereen andJermaine Cunningham. Dane Fletcher and Josh Barrett, who hadearlier been declared out, were also inactive, as were offensivelineman Donald Thomas and quarterback Ryan Mallett.

The most significant names on that list were Edelman andCunningham.

Neither was on the injury report, meaning they were healthyscratches. Taylor Price, who had gotten in for only one play allseason, that in the Dallas game, was activated ahead of Edelman.The team had 10 defensive lineman, which meant it would probablysit at least one. Cunningham, a former starter, has been seeingless action as the season has gone along as he is making thetransition from linebacker to defensive end.

Explaining strategy

Ben Roethlisberger on why his team threw 50 times:

"You would have thought that the game plan was justdink-and-dunk, but that's what they gave us," he said. "They tookaway the deep ball. For us, taking away the deep ball opens theunderneath stuff."

Here and there

Andre Carter had his second straight two-sack game, the 11thtime in his career he has had at least two. … Brady has nowthrown at least one touchdown pass in 23 straight games. He has 18scoring passes, a pace that would give him 41 for the season. Heled the league last year with 36. … The victory wasPittsburgh's first this season over a team with a winningrecord.

pkenyon@providencejournal.com

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